Gothenburg. The stadium appears as if out of nowhere, quite unexpectedly from behind a 24-hour fast food restaurant.
It is guaranteed by the shining rays of the sun, which have melted even the last flakes of snow a long time ago. The grass is turning green, spring is clearly longer in western Sweden than in Finland. It can also be seen in the clothing of the visitors: someone brave has put on only shorts and a t-shirt.
A familiar figure will soon appear in front of the stadium, smiling in his spring coat.
And what Katariina Kosola smiling: the year 2023 was another boom for the Finnish gambler.
First came the club transfer to Gothenburg, when Häcken bought the Finnish player from Örebro and signed him to a three-year contract. It’s not an everyday occurrence in women’s football, but Häcken, who belongs to one of Sweden’s top clubs, saw potential in Kosola.
With Häcken, Kosola was able to play tough Champions League games against Real Madrid, Chelsea and Paris FC in the fall, and to everyone’s surprise, survived the “death group”. It did that as the first Swedish team in the current women’s Champions League, which will be played in group stages from 2021.
Helmareissa also wipes well. Kosola established his place in the opener and scored two goals in the Slovakian net in the opening match of the Nations League.
– A lot happened last year. I felt like I developed as a player and grew as a person. There were many changes and we had to adapt to them. I am satisfied, Kosola says with a smile.
Kosola smiles often and a lot. That’s how his teammates describe him: cheerful, good-natured, kind and, above all, a fun company.
– Last but not least, a team player, Urheilu’s expert Essi Sainio more.
Sainio played at the same time as Kosola in HJK in 2020-21. The winger, who came from Hämeenlinna, was chosen as the National League Rookie of the Year in his first major league season.
According to Sainio, it was clear from Kosola early on that the grits would go a long way.
– Every time he stepped on the field, he was really focused. The will to win was incredible, and he always worked hard for the whole team, Sainio describes.
– At HJK, he was still so young that it felt like he might not even fully understand his potential yet and maybe he didn’t even know how to dream about the things he has achieved now. But even then it was clear that he would go far if his development continued.
Served as HJK’s head coach during Kosola’s playing years, belongs to the Helmareite coaching group Jonne Kunnas is on the same lines. Kunnas remembers how the entire HJK coaching team immediately thought after Kosola’s first HJK practice held at the Tali football hall, that the winger born in 2001 would probably make his breakthrough in the league.
– He came to training with the right attitude, didn’t humiliate or stress more experienced players or anything else. He was able to play with his own strengths, which are still visible today, Kunnas begins.
According to Kunnas, one of Kosola’s biggest strengths is related to his attitude. The current Linköping pilot does not remember ever seeing Kosola in a bad mood in training.
– Whatever we did, he was bright-eyed and ready to learn. That desire to learn has driven him forward. I am in no way surprised that he is now playing in the Champions League under the bright lights. He has adapted to a tougher level every time.
“Really hard condition”
That’s why Kosola is now in Gothenburg. In club team Häcken, he has also adapted to a new, different role than he is used to.
There is more defensive responsibility in Champions League matches, and no wonder. Up until now, the opposition has featured the brightest stars of women’s football: Sam Kerr, Lauren James, Olga Carmona.
On Wednesday, PSG’s star sibling will join the team, although fortunately for Häcken, perhaps the brightest of the stars, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, did not travel to Gothenburg at all. PSG coach by Jocelyn Prêcheur according to Katoto was injured in training and is not fit to play.
But Kosola doesn’t just defend.
– My role is also big in the attack. You have to be involved in both directions, but I think it suits my style of play just fine. I liked it, Kosola talks.
One of the greatest strengths of the modern winger is related to speed and running power. Häcken’s head coach also likes to use it Mak Lind, which has given the Finn a lot of responsibility. Kosola played full minutes in all six Champions League group stage games.
– He fits our style of play, which is required in European games. Katariina can maintain a high level for a long time. He’s in really good shape and he’s great at creating space for himself and his teammates. I would like to use his press in the Champions League, Lind opens.
Everyday life in Häcken is ultimately professional. There is a club training center where you can get breakfast and lunch. Sometimes the cook will also put food in for the evening.
It’s no wonder that many of Sweden’s current and former national team players also enjoy themselves in Häcken: Jennifer Falk, Filippa Curmark, Rosa Kafaji, Anna Anvegård among others.
Women’s football has not always been this professional in Gothenburg.
Häcken took over the Gothenburg FC women’s team in 2021. The story has become more and more familiar in recent years. Clubs that only invested in women’s football face financial problems when big clubs start investing in women’s activities as well.
Göteborg FC, on the other hand, was founded in 2003, because none of the men’s major league clubs were interested in developing women’s professional activities.
Now the situation is different. IFK Göteborg started investing in women’s activities in 2019. It is a much better known club than Häcken on the men’s side. When talking about men’s football in Gothenburg, in addition to IFK, which lived its glory in the 1980s on the Eurofields, GAIS, which returned to the men’s main league this season, and Sweden’s oldest football club, ÖIS, founded in 1887, usually come to the fore.
But Häcken has something that IFK doesn’t: money. When IFK Göteborg made losses of almost 10 million kroner last year, it was forged I will hack a result of more than 50 million kroner.
The club receives money from, among other things, organizing the biggest junior tournament in the Nordic countries, the Gothia Cup – and of course also from the success of the representative teams.
The men advanced to the Europa League and won the Swedish Cup. The women missed out on silver both in the Cup and on goal difference in the Damallsvenskan, but it has been going well on the Euro courts so far.
The success has also brought viewers. Wednesday’s match against PSG is sold out again.
Kosola will be required to stretch to the max on Wednesday night, but so will everyone else. PSG’s resources are significantly ahead of Häcken – the operation is financed by the Qatari state-owned investment company Qatar Sports Investments. The company is among the richest in the world.
That’s why Lind has put all means into use. The team has invited the club’s Academy boys to their training sessions, who have been instructed to play like a French club by watching videos.
– If we are going to keep up with the development of Europe, we have to come up with something new, explains Lind.
PSG also has the advantage that the French Premier League season is currently underway.
In Sweden, the Damallsvenska season is just starting. The first Cup games are already behind us.
– Of course, it’s a slightly different preparation. It feels like we’ve had to carry on a bit from last year. There have been smaller breaks, but not the same preseason as usually at this time of the season. Since January, we have played almost every weekend, Kosola says.
Many famous players and coaches have criticized the women’s strict calendar. The vacations of the players who played in the World Cup this summer were very short – just like those who played in the European Championship the previous summer.
England captain Leah Williamson warned of an “unsustainable calendar” bringing more serious injuries to women’s football. She herself was on the sidelines of the World Cup due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has become painfully familiar to women’s football in recent years.
You have to ask Kosola: does it make you tired?
– Well, admittedly a little, Kosola laughs.
– It feels like there have been a lot of games. But great games, it powers. You get to do what you love.
The quarterfinals of the Women’s Champions League kicked off on Tuesday, March 19. Katariina Kosolan Häcken will face PSG on Wednesday, March 20. Brann, represented by Joanna Tynnilä, challenges Barcelona.